On Behalf of the 'Convention on Rights of the Child'

The United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), is an international treaty that lays out the cultural, social, civil, political, and economic rights of children. It is overseen by the United Nations' Committee on the Rights of the Child which is comprised of members from countries around the world.

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund, the Convention affirms that every child has certain basic rights, such as, the right to survival, to protection from harmful influences, abuse and exploitation, and to participate fully in family, cultural and social life. The Convention also acknowledges that children have the right to express their opinions and to have those opinions heard and acted upon when appropriate. In addition, the Convention forbids capital punishment for children. The CRC spells out these rights in 54 articles and two Optional Protocols.

The CRC is an agreement between various nations, in which all nations adhere to basic norms and standards regarding children’s rights. The CRC’s fundamental goal is to protect children from abuse and maltreatment when they are most vulnerable in their early years of life (“Campaign for the U.S. Ratification of the CRC,” 2007).

Today in the United states an estimated 1.4 million children are homeless, approximately 13.4 million children live in poverty, nearly 14 million children will live in homes with limited or inadequate access to nutritious food and approximately four children die each day from neglect or abuse (“Campaign for the U.S. Ratification of the CRC,” 2007).

Globally, 15 million children are orphans due to AIDS, 115 million children to do go to school, 40 million children suffer from abuse or neglect, approximately 223 million children have been forced to conduct sexual acts and between 100 and 150 million children live on the streets (“Campaign for the U.S. Ratification of the CRC,” 2007).

Although the United States has many excellent programs in place to protect children, problems of abuse, neglect, hunger and poverty and lack of adequate healthcare still need to be addressed. Ratifying the CRC would assist the United States in making children a national priority.